He says new rules will ’make it likely that Georgians will not know the results’ on election night.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has defended the state’s election laws while condemning an effort to change procedures before voters take to the polls in November.
In an Aug. 15 statement, the state’s top elections official touted the various reforms Georgia—a battleground state—has implemented in a bid to “foster voter confidence in elections.”
Raffensperger, a Republican, noted he has worked alongside the General Assembly to ensure, among other measures, that photo ID is required for absentee ballots, and that “rigorous citizenship verification” has been implemented, making sure that only U.S. citizens can vote in state elections.
Because of these efforts, “Georgia has been identified by the Heritage Foundation as having some of the best election integrity measures in the country,” he said.
The secretary of state then went on to criticize what he called “misguided, last-minute changes” by the State Election Board to undermine key provisions of those reforms.
Raffensperger specifically pointed to a proposal advanced by the Georgia State Election Board in July to count ballots by hand at polling places on election night to ensure they match the number of ballots recorded by